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Optimizing Ion Transport in Polyether-Based Electrolytes for Lithium Batteries

Journal Article · · Macromolecules
 [1];  [2];  [3];  [2];  [4];  [2];  [5];  [1];  [6]
  1. Cornell Univ., Ithaca, NY (United States). Dept. of Chemistry and Chemical Biology. Baker Lab.
  2. Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States). Dept. of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering; Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). Materials Science Division
  3. Purdue Univ., West Lafayette, IN (United States). Charles D. Davidson School of Chemical Engineering
  4. Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States). Dept. of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
  5. California Inst. of Technology (CalTech), Pasadena, CA (United States). Division of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering
  6. Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States). Dept. of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering; Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). Materials Science Division. Energy Storage and Distributed Resources Division
In this paper, we report on the synthesis of poly(diethylene oxide-alt-oxymethylene), P(2EO-MO), via cationic ring-opening polymerization of the cyclic ether monomer, 1,3,6-trioxocane. We use a combined experimental and computational approach to study ion transport in electrolytes comprising mixtures of P(2EO-MO) and lithium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl) imide (LiTFSI) salt. Mixtures of poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) and LiTFSI are used as a baseline. The maximum ionic conductivities, σ, of P(2EO-MO) and PEO electrolytes at 90 °C are 1.1 × 10–3 and 1.5 × 10–3 S/cm, respectively. This difference is attributed to the Tg of P(2EO-MO)/LiTFSI (-12 °C), which is significantly higher than that of PEO/LiTFSI (-44 °C) at the same salt concentration. Self-diffusion coefficients measured using pulsed-field gradient NMR (PFG-NMR) show that both Li+ and TFSI ions diffuse more rapidly in PEO than in P(2EO-MO). However, the NMR-based cation transference number in P(2EO-MO) (0.36) is approximately twice that in PEO (0.19). The transference number measured by the steady-state current technique, t+,ss, in P(2EO-MO) (0.20) is higher than in PEO (0.08) by a similar factor. We find that the product σt+,ss is greater in P(2-EO-MO) electrolytes; thus, P(2EO-MO) is expected to sustain higher steady-state currents under dc polarization, making it a more efficacious electrolyte for battery applications. Molecular-level insight into the factors that govern ion transport in our electrolytes was obtained using MD simulations. These simulations show that the solvation structures around Li+ are similar in both polymers. The same is true for TFSI. However, the density of Li+ solvation sites in P(2EO-MO) is double that in PEO. Finally, we posit that this is responsible for the observed differences in the experimentally determined transport properties of P(2EO-MO) and PEO electrolytes.
Research Organization:
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
National Science Foundation (NSF) (United States); USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES) (SC-22)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC02-05CH11231
OSTI ID:
1461983
Journal Information:
Macromolecules, Journal Name: Macromolecules Journal Issue: 8 Vol. 51; ISSN 0024-9297
Publisher:
American Chemical SocietyCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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The Effect of Oligo(Ethylene Oxide) Side Chains: A Strategy to Improve Contrast and Switching Speed in Electrochromic Polymers journal January 2020
New frontiers for the materials genome initiative journal April 2019
Multivalent ion conduction in solid polymer systems journal January 2019
Charging toward improved lithium-ion polymer electrolytes: exploiting synergistic experimental and computational approaches to facilitate materials design journal January 2019
Uniform lithium deposition on N-doped carbon-coated current collectors journal January 2019
Ohm’s law for ion conduction in lithium and beyond-lithium battery electrolytes journal July 2019
Comparing Two Electrochemical Approaches for Measuring Transference Numbers in Concentrated Electrolytes journal January 2018
Comparing Cycling Characteristics of Symmetric Lithium-Polymer-Lithium Cells with Theoretical Predictions journal January 2018
Improving the Conductivity of Solid Polymer Electrolyte by Grain Reforming journal May 2020

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